Gaza aid flotilla activists, including former Pakistani senator Mushtaq Ahmad, released after Israeli interception

More than 100 activists, including former Pakistani senator Mushtaq Ahmad, who were aboard aid ships bound for Gaza were released and taken to the Greek island of Crete on Friday, a day after Israeli forces seized their vessels in international waters near Greece. The activists were part of a second Global Sumud Flotilla, launched in recent months in an attempt to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza by delivering humanitarian assistance. The ships set sail from the Spanish port of Barcelona on April 12. On Friday, an Israeli army ship transferred 168 members of the flotilla crew to Greek boats, which then took them to shore, where buses and an ambulance waited for them, organisers said and Reuters footage showed. Before communications were jammed, former senator Ahmad posted videos to social media platform X saying, “Flotilla under attack, Israeli terrorist army has captured 11 of our boats.” On Friday, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on X that the former senator, “who was unlawfully detained by Israeli occupying forces along with other humanitarian workers aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, has been released”. “I thank the Hellenic authorities for facilitating former Senator Mushtaq Ahmad at Crete, Greece. I also express my deep gratitude to the leadership and the government of Turkiye for facilitating his return to Istanbul for onward travel to Pakistan,” he added. Dar also expressed appreciation for the “effective response by the Foreign Office and our embassy in Athens” on the matter. “I reiterate my strongest possible condemnation of the illegal detention of humanitarian workers aboard the flotilla as well as obstruction of humanitarian aid destined for the besieged people of Gaza. “Pakistan has been and will continue to extend unequivocal support for our Palestinian brothers and sisters,” he added. Later, former senator Ahmad shared a video on his X account, saying that he was speaking from an airport in Greece, where the activists were in